Night Time 20

Last night I ran one of my favorite 20 mile routes (online at gmaps pedometer) that would take me north out of DC to the Capital Crescent Trail, through Bethesda, the C&O Canal, Georgetown, Rock Creek Park and then home.

Running at twilight meant that I had a good chance to see deer. My goal was to see 5 or 6 during my run, but it took me until mile 11.5 before I saw the first deer, a 4-point buck with two of his antlered buddies along the Med/DC line. Just after mile 13, 4 un-antlered deer at a boat launch sipped water from the edge of the C&O Canal. The deer scattered for refuge as I passed, and a mystery bird silently flew up from the canal to my left and for the briefest moment its expansive dark wings were silhouetted by a distant street light.

A ½ mile later what looked like a family of 4 deer (mom, dad, baby and 1 year-old) stood just off the path undisturbed as I trotted by.

At mile 14 the darkness of an unrecognizable shape slipped into the canal in front of me, and slowly swam away on top of the water. Peculiar things happen to your mind when you run significant distances. After two hours of inner solitude you may begin to see the outside world in diverse ways. Continued running without thinking allows your logical mind to slip into hibernation and it can then become a challenge to make sense of, and give answers to simple questions like, for example, “What the heck is that swimming in the canal?”

60 seconds of observation and speculation later, a loud tail slap on the water broke both the silence and my deliberation. The first of two beavers I observed on my run disappeared under the cloudy canal surface.

After the beaver encounter, 3 of the next 5 deer seemed wholly unprepared for my approach. Deer 12 and 13 immediately jumped off the path into the thick cover while deer 14, 15 and 16 chose the path of least resistance and ran away from me down the towpath. I continued to run with these 3 first-year deer keeping the pace 10-15 yard ahead of me for almost 150 yards. When they finally quit the towpath I passed and heard one give out a bleat, to let momma know where they were.

Before entering the wilderness of nighttime Georgetown, I saw another deer that brought my total to 17. A lone Great Blue Heron stood motionless, shin-deep in the canal and it watched me run by.

AP